Newsletters & Media - Media Releases

June 2006

Flying High

By Mark Crawford, Madison Magazine - May 2006

It’s easy to take Madison for granted – after all, every day we experience the bounty of attributes that make our city one of the top places in the nation. We’ve become a little blasé about all our chart-topping success, but now there’s a new number-one to add to the list: Dane County Regional Airport. After a five-year, $65-million upgrade, our little ol’ airport has been transformed into a beautiful, stylish and highly functional facility. In fact, it may be the most under-appreciated jewel that Madison has to offer.

It’s hard not to notice the luxurious feel of the place – the granite wainscoting, cherrywood trim, gleaming floor mosaics and soft leather seating. There’s even a cozy “meeters and greeters” lounge with a fireplace at the bottom of the new central checkpoint. Look to the huge, vaulted ceiling as you move up or down the escalators and find classic and classy Prairie-style chandeliers, one of many odes to Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural aesthetic found throughout the remodeled Dane County Regional Airport. If you haven’t yet seen the transformation that has taken place over the last few years, you’ll hardly recognize the place.

The upgrades are satisfying the business community’s travel needs and building loyalty among fliers within the south central Wisconsin population of 850,000 the airport serves. Keeping these folks in the air over Madison is a big deal, since the airport pumps about $600 million into the local economy.

Andy Platz, PE - Vice President and Manager of Aviation Services at Mead & Hunt

”What was once a small regional facility, where some of the passengers had to walk onto the ramp to board an airplane, is now the nicest mid-sized airport in the U.S.,” says Andy Platz, VP and manager of airport services for Madison-based Mead and Hunt, one of the leading airport design firms in the country. “It’s a very attractive, modern facility that’s highly competitive with the larger Milwaukee and Chicago markets.”

“Flying in and out of Madison is a much more rewarding experience now,” says Deb Archer, president and CEO of the Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The improvements have moved us up a notch into a larger market look.”

So what sort of look does $65 million buy?

At 278,000 square feet, the terminal has doubled in size and incorporates many green-built features, such as recycled building materials and nontoxic finishes. New office spaces, agent positions and an executive conference room were added. DCRA is also one of the first airports in the country to have a newer security checkpoint design and ETDs (explosive trace detection equipment) out of public view. Five-hundred surface parking spaces will be built by the end of 2006, with plans for another parking structure in 2007 – 2008.

A graceful, Prairie-style architectural theme creates a welcoming atmosphere. Gold, green, brown, and ochre colors reflect Wisconsin’s rural landscape. Natural daylight abounds throughout the terminal.

“It’s important for the airport to reflect our region, from the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired architecture to the exhibits of Wisconsin art,” says Bill White, an attorney with Michael Best & Friedrich who’s chaired the airport commission since 1994.

A WiFi network became operational in April, which is a big relief for laptop and cell-phone users (as are the comfortable individual workstations). All retail/food venues will be finished by June, including the first Ancora Coffee location to serve wine and beer in addition to coffee.

“I love the changes,” says Don Davidson, vice president of sales and marketing for CUNA Mutual Group. “I’m a gold flier on multiple carriers and have been in hundreds of airports all over the world. What we have here in Madison is very special. And I can’t think of any airport in the world that has a fireplace lounge for visitors.”

Outdoor improvements include a new $28-million runway safety project. Millions have been spent on environmental initiatives. “DCRA was the first airport in the Midwest to start trapping and treating de-icing fluids from the aircraft parking area to protect the environment,” says Platz. The airport has also enhanced Starkweather Creek for better water quality.

“The terminal is as efficient and technologically state-of-the- art as it is beautiful,” says Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk. “It provides a dramatic, positive welcome for visitors to our county.”

And though the airport is twice as big as it used to be, it still retains a small-town feel. “Even when I have to use the satellite parking, it’s only a five-minute walk to the terminal,” says Chuck Sara, an attorney with DeWitt Ross & Stevens. “People can still walk to their rental cars without taking a shuttle. Dane County Regional is a breath of fresh air for anyone coming to town.”

Airports are part of the lifeblood of the modern economy, a rich mixture of traditional businesses like insurance and manufacturing to bio- and high-technology. “For towns like Madison that have key intellectual property and financial investment sectors, being able to move people easily is essential for building links to the global economy,” says Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. Still has worked alongside government officials and business leaders to lobby for more and better commuter flights in and out of the airport.

About sixty percent of air travel through Dane County Regional Airport is for business. Northwest, with connections to Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Detroit, Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas, carries forty-five percent of all passengers. The next closest is United at twenty-two percent, followed by American, Delta, Midwest and Continental.

Northwest Airlines has a long history in Wisconsin. “We’re dedicated to serving Madison,” says Kurt Ebenhoch, director of media relations for Northwest. “Madison is one of the most important feeders into our hubs. In fact, Northwest is the only network carrier that flies big planes like DC9s and Airbuses into Madison.”

Passenger boardings increased 63 percent from 1995 to 2004, when the all-time record was set at 1.68 million passengers. That total dropped 4.3 percent to 1.6 million in 2005, a result of losing five daily ATA flights to Chicago and Allegiant dropping service to Orlando and Las Vegas (year-to-date numbers for 2006 are about two percent lower than 2005).

In the many discussions Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk has had with the business community, one of the most repeated concerns was “having a more functional airport, especially with nonstop flights to key business destinations,” says Falk. A 2004 Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce meeting led by Jennifer Alexander, Deb Archer, and airport director Brad Livingston got the nonstop ball rolling.

Madison was already anchored by nonstop service to carrier hubs like Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Minneapolis and Cincinnati. Over the last two years Falk, Archer, Livingston, and key business leaders have been aggressively promoting Madison as an ideal spot for more of these routes. That hard work is paying off: nonstops added over last year are Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Las Vegas and New York La Guardia.

“Interacting with the global economy – especially China, Latin America, and India – is critical to American business,” says Livingston. “Two of our new nonstops are international gateways. Atlanta was a very important addition. Not only is it the busiest airport in the world, but from Atlanta you can catch nonstops to destinations like Tokyo, Paris, London, Buenos Aires or Moscow. Madison needs this kind of access to international markets.”

National travel is pivotal, too. The employees at the wildly successful software developer Epic Systems Corporation rack up about fifteen-thousand flights a year to big cities around the country. “Epic has always been interested in direct flights to these cities because they will save our staff and customers so much time,” says spokesperson Terri Leigh Statz.

More nonstops make it easier for busy execs from the east and west coasts to get to Madison on business. “You really don’t want to inconvenience the client,” says Susan Tikalsky, president of Resource Strategies. “For some, if they have to change flights, it’s not worth their time coming here.”

“Every hour waiting at a transfer point is wasted time and money,” adds Falk. “Not only do nonstops save hours of travel time, they also reduce the chances for hassles like weather delays and lost luggage.”

But getting into the nonstop game isn’t easy. Airline route planning managers must be armed with the latest economic and transportation data to make an informed decision. Livingston, with some twenty five years in the airport business, knows how to put a package together.

“I went with Brad [and Deb Archer] to Atlanta to meet with Delta,” says Charles Hoslet, managing director of corporate relations for UW-Madison. “We presented all the data points they were looking for and showed Delta the tremendous commitment of the community.” The result? Within six months Madison had nonstop service to Atlanta.

“Madison’s growth in nonstops is very impressive for a city its size,” says Northwest’s Ebenhoch. “It shows that airport management is experienced and understands what airlines need to know to make decisions about the Madison market.”

The Atlanta and Washington, D.C. nonstops in particular were vital for Madison’s growing biotech community. Atlanta is home to the Centers for Disease Control and thousands of life-science companies. The National Institutes of Health (and endless opportunities for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts and grants) are in D.C., as well as venture capital firms with billions of dollars in assets.

“The research community in Madison, especially the University of Wisconsin, relies heavily on federal funding,” says the Tech Council’s Still. “With the new federal budget calling for more spending under homeland security, it’s important to maintain and expand these connections.”

UW researchers frequently travel to Washington, Atlanta, and New York to make presentations for research funding. “We were trying to develop a research collaboration with a large pharmaceutical firm in New York City,” says Hoslet. “When the nonstop flight to La Guardia became available, it was a big selling point. Now suddenly the senior vice president of R&D could get to Madison in a matter of hours. I really think the nonstop made the relationship move forward – not having to route people through Chicago is huge.”

Livingston’s ultimate dream is getting nonstop service to the west coast. Right now the most popular destination is San Francisco, but it will be a while before demand reaches anywhere near supply.

“On all airlines serving Madison, there are about sixty-nine travelers who fly to San Francisco each day,” says Ebenhoch. “Including the San Jose and Oakland airports brings that up to eighty-six ... The smallest Northwest aircraft with that range is the Airbus A319 with 124 seats. If Northwest offered one nonstop per day to San Francisco, we’d only get a fraction of those eighty-six customers, because many of them would need to fly at a different time, or honor corporate contracts with other airlines.”

For now, Madison has to be content with just one nonstop flight to a western hub – Denver. Northwest offers five one-stops to San Francisco through Minneapolis, one of which allows passengers to remain on the same aircraft.

New, smaller jet aircraft, such as the Embraer EM 170 that can fly up to seventy people coast to coast, are being introduced to the marketplace. These stylish planes have the look and feel of an Airbus but are smaller, with good legroom and the latest electronics. “They make sense for mid-sized destinations,” says Livingston, “and hopefully one day Northwest or United will be flying these planes between Madison and San Francisco.” If Livingston has anything to do with it, one day might not be far off.

Either way, folks seem to be content with the progress made so far. “Everything considered, I can’t think of a single city the size of Madison that has a better airport than ours,” says Platz. “Dane County Regional Airport is second to none. It’s easy to use, competes well with the bigger markets, and still has that small-town feel. There’s no question it’s ahead of the curve.”

“Airports are pretty much the same wherever you go,” adds Falk. “When you’re inside the terminal it’s hard to tell if you’re in Dallas, San Francisco, or Washington, D.C. But when you’re inside Dane County Regional Airport, you can feel the difference.”

Mark Crawford is a freelance business writer.